News, observations and reader questions about the Sacramento Kings and the NBA.

January 9, 2009

Because of space limitations, I was unable to include Bobby Jackson's comments about interim Kings coach Kenny Natt in my column that ran in today's Bee. But since the veteran guard invariably has something interesting to say, I wanted to revisit them before tonight's game against the Miami Heat. In essence, he endorsed Natt's tendency toward the quick hook, as well as his approach to discipline.

"If you're not doing the things to help us win games, then you've got to come out," Jackson began. "I like what he's (Natt) doing. I respect him a lot. I think that's the way you have to be. When a guy isn't performing the way you expect, then he has to come sit down. When I become a coach, I'm going to do the same thing. You can't let guys think it's OK to play like that (selfishly), with everybody looking to shoot the ball. We're not a selfish team, but everybody feels the pressure of losing. Everybody wants to step up and make the big shot. They end up making a mistake instead of making the simple play. Here, it's about guys wanting to score instead of making the extra pass, thinking of the team concept. But, hey, you're not always going to shoot well. You can't always control that. But you can control your effort on rebounding, on defense. You can control whether you hustle."

More from Jackson: "I've never experienced anything like this, except maybe my rookie year, where it's all about offense, and guys don't try to play defense. Hopefully that changes."

And one final offering, this one about Kevin Martin's scoring spree, his return to the starting lineup and status as the team's No.1 scoring option: "We're playing harder, but we've got Kevin back. Some guys might not be happy that he's taking shots away from them, but when he's scoring that efficient, man, what can you say"